Wednesday, July 26, 2017

The dog days of summer settled in over the Lowcountry just
in time for the 2017 Edisto Billfish Tourney, with hot weather translating into
calm seas. With the weather forecast for fishable seas locked in, the Marina at
Edisto Beach reeled in a fleet of 38 boats to go offshore in search of billfish
and meatfish. The town of Edisto Beach and many local businesses also came
together for this multi-day event that is partially based out of Bay Creek
Park. When the fishing was complete on Saturday, Wildlife claimed the Edisto
title, while Gryphon wins the entire 2017 Governor’s Cup Series.

Bubba Simmons with winning Tuna

Plenty of boats released lots of
billfish, and also had many more billfish get away, so it underscores that
Wildlife was the most efficient given the ample opportunities that the ocean
was yielding. For example, on Saturday alone the fishing fleet released 51
sailfish, 6 blue marlin and one white marlin. Any number of boat captains I
spoke to on the docks said that they had a realistic chance at more billfish,
but that they would not bite the lure or they got broke off during the fight.
Saltwater anglers know they won’t catch and release every billfish they see,
but everyone appreciates that the billfish were plentiful.

Angler Bolegs Warner with winning HOO!!

Anticipation also doubles up in the
meatfish category, wining the top spot for both the heaviest dolphin and the
heaviest tuna, for owner Paul Coury and Captain Harvey Shiflet. On Day One
female angler Whitney Arnold weighed in a 45.3-pound mahi mahi for
Anticipation, and she also released two sailfish during the tourney. Then on
Saturday Bubba Simmons weighed in a 12-pound blackfin tuna for Anticipation ,
the only tuna brought to the scales at the 2017 event. The heaviest wahoo went
to Bolegs Warner fishing on the Dealer’s Choice based out of Walterboro, with a
73.2 HOO brought in on Day One.

To read the entire feature article in the newspaper click on Colletonian.

Wednesday, July 19, 2017

The Back to Nature program of the Edisto Island Open LadTrust (EIOLT) brought Dr. Richard Porcher to Edisto on July 15 for a Saturday
morning lecture. The meeting was held at the Edisto Island State Park
Environmental Learning Center, providing an air-conditioned setting for the
capacity crowd. EILOT Director John Girault welcomed both members and guests,
including a contingent of volunteers from nearby Botany Bay WMA, to hear
Porcher speak about the changing landscape on the sea islands of the
Lowcountry.

Dr. Porcher is a botanist, retiring after a 30-year teaching
career at the The Citadel, to focus on conservation in the field and to publish
two books on Wildflowers and Sea Island Cotton. “Today’s lecture is in support
of another book I am working on to document how the landscape is continuously
evolving since the arrival of mankind and large scale agriculture practices,”
said Porcher. “While Indigo production was significant in the Lowcountry, it
was Sea Island Cotton that became so valuable that the wealth it brought to
planters and their families essentially funded the building of the city of
Charleston.”

“In 1852
the entire island of Edisto was planted in Sea Island cotton,” said Porcher.
“It is said that one could stand on the back side of Edisto Island and look
toward the beach and see the ocean, because the landscape was flat for ag
practices.” Another part of Edisto Island’s history is that the planters used
to live at a beachfront colony called Edingsville Beach, which was located near
Frampton’s Inlet, but was wiped off the map and left underwater after a major hurricane.

To view the entire feature article in the newspaper click on Colletonian.

Thursday, July 13, 2017

The three species of flounder that can be caught in local
waters have shown declines in their numbers via marine research. The southern,
summer and Gulf flounder are now under new regulations in South Carolina
designed to protect their stocks for the future of recreational fishing. The
changes are designed to be a long-term fix to the issue of increased fishing
pressure that is in direct correlation to the increase in saltwater fishing
license sales. The legal length for keeping a flounder increases from 14-inches
to 15-inches as of July 1, 2017.

In
addition, the daily bag limit and the daily boat limit for keeping flounder
have been reduced. Anglers can only claim 10 flounder per day now, down from the
15 flounder limit that was in place since 2007. The maximum daily boat limit is
now set at 20 flounder per day, a limit which addresses fishing trips for larger
parties or charters. The hope for flounder recovery relies on their own ability
to reproduce, with the new regulations giving smaller fish a greater chance to
reach spawning age.

Judging the
health of any specific stock of saltwater fish can be tricky, especially
considering that flounder can swim from inshore to offshore, and they can
migrate across state lines, exposing them to different regulations. However,
the S.C. Department of Natural Resources has solid data sets for many species
thanks to the dedication of the Marine Resources Division. Their trammel net
surveys over the past twenty years in waters such as those of the ACE Basin
reveal a decline in the catch and release of flounder.

It would be hard to imagine a mixed
bag of saltwater fish without any flounder among them. If the 2017 changes
produce the desired effect, we can expect to see more flounder than ever,
keeping this fishery sustainable and preserving part of our outdoor heritage.